Question about a vintage khukuri

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davidf99

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About a year ago I got the khukuri pictured below at an auction site. I've been trying to figure out how old it might be and where it might be from originally. If anyone has a theory, I'd like to hear it. There are no marks on the blade or handle, which probably means that it was not military issue, but it seems more of a weapon than a tool. My guess, based on general appearance, features and condition, is that it is WWI-era, or sometime between WWI and WWII, but private purchase, and made in Nepal.

The most striking feature is the handle ring, which seems unusual. (I have one other khukuri with that type of ring, and it's on a very well made all-steel handle that is either very old or was modeled after an old design. I've seen a photo of an antique all-steel khukuri with that kind of handle ring, but that's about it.) This type of ring would be quite uncomfortable for anyone not used to a khukuri, but I found that after a little while one figures out how to hold it. A light grip works best, where you tighten down the rear fingers just before impact.

The bolster is steel. Bolster and handle are very tight. The wood looks very old and has some kind of hard coating that I don't dare tamper with. Apart from some fraying at the edges of the butt, the handle is in good shape. I am unable to identify the type of wood.

Most of the weight is in the blade. The balance point is about midpoint from tip to butt. The blade itself is well shaped with a carefully done cho and sword of shiva. Whoever forged the blade was not trying to make something fancy or upscale; holding the blade at an angle I can see the hammer marks, more so than in most HI blades, but competent work.

The edge is in pretty good shape, probably been used a lot in the past and resharpened as necessary, especially around the sweet spot, which is slightly worn down. The fact that most of the wear is in the sweet spot suggests that whoever used this knife knew what he was doing. There are no chips or any signs that there ever were chips, except possibly in the area that was worn down.

The spine is 3/8" thick at the bolster and gradually tapers down to about 1/4" almost to the tip. The forging produced a very shallow but visible wide fuller that runs the full length of the blade. Because of that fuller, the blade is thinner and lighter than most new khukuris that I've seen of similar length and spine thickness. The overall length is 18" and the weight is 19oz.

Here are some photos:

View attachment 511181 View attachment 511182 View attachment 511183 View attachment 511184 View attachment 511185
 
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Not an idea but it's a looker alright! Most khukuri I've seen from that era are partial tang weather they're a tool or weapon for easy of handle replacement, so it's hard to tell. It looks similar to military patterns that I've seen, so it might just be. Something the Gurkha brought with him from home?
 
Is the bolster wrought iron, or steel? Wrought iron would indicate that it was older. (Look for a coarse "woodgrain" in the bolster)
Same with the blade-does it look to be pattern welded, or homogenous steel?
 
J W Bensinger said:
Is the bolster wrought iron, or steel? Wrought iron would indicate that it was older. (Look for a coarse "woodgrain" in the bolster). Same with the blade-does it look to be pattern welded, or homogenous steel?
Click to expand...

The bolster seems to have not a coarse woodgrain but a fine woodgrain on both sides, visible on the slanted part of the bolster. It doesn't show up in the photos but is clearly visible with a magnifying glass.

I don't see any pattern in the steel of the blade, but there's a lot of shallow "pitting" and some small imperfections that look like they might have been there from the beginning. Actually the steel looks a lot like the blade on the Longleaf that I got from Atlantic Cutlery (after I cleaned off the light surface tarnish).

The imperfections in the steel show up best in these three pictures:

View attachment 511231 View attachment 511232 View attachment 511233
 
It could be anything, but as long as we're guessing, I'll give it a go. It looks a lot like what is generally called a Regimental or Battalion model. They were called that because the were procured or made by battalion/regimental kamis, not something issued service wide. They more commonly have a steel butt-plate, often secured by the peened tang (if full tang), nails/screws, or a combo of the three. Even the WWI variants seem to have a butt-plate (they were used in both wars), but I'm sure there are exceptions. They are not all marked. This is all just a guess as it just has that "look" and the specs seem to follow what I've seen for the Batt/Reg khuks. They were seemingly popular with the Gurkha. Not being an HQ procured item, the local command (or Gurkhas themselves) would have had some say in the design, and yours looks very much like many others, so there was quite a bit of consistency. I have a modern replica with specs like yours and it's my best handling traditional khukuri.

Again, this is just a shot in the dark, but it looks too much like the others I've seen for it to be too far off the mark. The only real departure from the style is the lack of butt-plate. Then again, it could be private purchase. Being made for military use seems almost a sure thing IMHO. Hopefully Spiral and Berk can offer some insight and educate us a bit. It's a nice looking khuk to be cherished for sure:thumbup: If it could only talk...
 
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